Uttar Pradesh polling began today for 58 assembly seats spread across 11 districts in the western part of the state. Polling started at 7am and will progresses upto 6pm. In the political crucial state terminated on Tuesday evening, campaigning in the constituencies will vote in the first round of the seven-phase election.
The ministers in the first phase who are ready for the race are Shrikanth Sharma, Suresh Rana, Sandeep Singh, Kapil Dev Agarwal, Atul Garg and Chowdhury Lakshmi Narain. As many as 623 candidates, including 73 women are in the fray in the first phase and around 2.28 crore voters, including 1.24 crore men and 1.04 crore women are eligible to caste their franchise.
Due to a ban on road shows and physical rallies in the wake of pandemic, the canvassing for the first phase remained confined to the virtual medium. Leading the campaign for the BJP, Narendra Modi pitched for a double-engine government for fast-paced development while attacking the Samajwadi Party-Rashtriya Lok Dal combine.
Mayawati, the chief of BSP, who commenced campaigning late, reminded people of her government’s track record on law and order in the past. The elections will be held in Shamli, Hapur, Gautam Budh Nagar, Muzaffarnagar, Aligarh, Meerut, Baghpat, Ghaziabad, Bulandshahr, Agra and Mathura. The first phase will cover the Jat-dominated belt of western UP from where farmers had participated actively in the stir against the centre’s three farm laws in the national capital.